On Tuesday I had one of the greatest moments in my life, when the Swedish prime minister Stefan Löfven announced that I won the Nordic Council Children and Young People's Literature Prize 2019 for «Alle sammen teller»! Will write much more about this when things have settled down, the response is heartwarming and overwhelming!
New book!
My picture book «Alle sammen teller» («Everybody Counts») is finally here! This is by far the most ambitious book project I have ever worked on. At some point I really didn’t think it was possible to finish it, and I started to think it was simply possible to draw oneself crazy. SO relieved that it is done, and — if I may say so— quite proud of the result!
Motion
I'm having a lot of fun experimenting with gifs at the moment. So interesting to see what happens when I add a tiny bit of motion to any sketch from a sketchbook, for example. I think this house became so much more "sturdy" as soon as I added some "wind". Can't wait to do a lot more of this!
The Design Museum in Copenhagen
Last year I went to Copenhagen and I wanted to see the Design Museum. I was prevented for the most ridiculous reason: I couldn't get across the street! It turned out there was a Half Marathon going on, and what must have been the best part of all Danes took part. The stream of runners would not end. I stood for half an hour thinking "surely there MUST be an opening soon, so that I can run across." But the running crowd just got more and more dense. So I gave up, and started studying and drawing the runners instead. Below is the result.
This weekend, I was in Copenhagen again. And it turned out the Half Marathon was on again, on the very day I wanted to go to the Design Museum! But this time I outsmarted them, approached the Museum from an other part of town and made it all the way there!
It was worth both the wait and the effort, the place was packed with the most amazing design objects. I may not be able to afford buying them, but it gave me great pleasure to draw a few of them.
I was also amused to see that there was a section about slowness, a slow approach in the design process: "Slowness and careful contemplation are prerequsites for artistic design as well as for products of high perfection and longevity", while people were trying to beat their personal Half Marathon records on the streets outside. That being said: I enjoy both design and running, surely we need both slowness and speed! And I can enjoy the shapes of the runners too.
An Insane Project
A few years ago I had the insane idea to draw ALL my belongings. I think it may have been part of a plan to tidy up, but now I almost break down just thinking about it. Only my drawing equipment would have taken a month! Anyway, these are some of the items that I drew before I gave up.
An Award!
I just won a gold award in Visuelt, a Norwegian annual award for visual communication. I won the book category for the illustrations for «Barnet mitt» («My Child»), written by Hilde Hagerup.
This book was such a pleasure to illustrate. I was given the text just after I finished my last maternity leave, so the timing couldn't have been better. I was definitely in the right frame of mind, and I had spent the last few months drawing my own kids in all kinds of situations. I loved Hilde's text right away, and it makes me very happy to get such positive feedback for the illustrations I did for her.
As I did the cover illustration i had the idea of making a dust cover that also worked as a duvet. I wanted to recreate the feeling of tucking a child in at night. Also, taking it off lets you tread right into the characters' personal space, which corresponds with the text.
Doodle meditation
Nothing calms me down like doodling ...
SketcBook Pro
Have wanted to do this for a long time! When I start a new Moleskine sketchbook, especially if it is a white one, it makes me think of iPhones and laptops. Luckily, the sketchbooks don't cost as much …
Hesitating on the First Page
For many years I let perfectionism rule my sketchbooks. If I started a new one and the first page didn’t look good, I would lose interest in the whole sketchbook. So then I started leaving the first page blank, to go back and draw something perfect later on. Sounds silly, but it helped me dive right in rather than hesitate on the first page.
Gradually I got more free and now I am not at all precious about my sketchbooks. I draw every day, for all reasons. Mostly to remember thoughts and ideas, but also to keep drawing a natural and essential part of my life.
But this blog … I realise I’m doing it again! I’m hesitating on the first page and I need to stop it NOW. I’ll start with a couple of photos of some of my sketchbooks. There’s been a few …
Just Snow Stories
Lovely sprinkling of icing sugar across my town today. I love how you can suddenly read stories in the snow. Somebody has a car, they got into it and drove away. Something magical about seeing what has already happened.
